In this age of the advanced information society, it is difficult for any persons to carry out jobs solely using expertise of personal specialized fields; hence, it is necessary for any persons to occasionally obtain another persons' cooperation or assistance in addition to individuals' knowledge and capabilities. Conventionally, engineers have developed technologies to search human network information or related information by use of emails, social networking systems, databases, servers, and data mining tools.
Patent Literature Document 1 discloses a human network information management system which can efficiently manage human network information produced based on message information via networks. Specifically, the human network management system specifies addressers and addressees based on message information so as to generate relation information showing links between addressers and addressees. Additionally, it specifies unique information concerning addressees and addressers based on message information, thus generating attribute information representing attributes of addressers and addressees based on unique information. The human network management system generates and outputs human network information representing linking strengths according to relation information and attribute information. Thus, the human network management system can efficiently form and manage human network information based on message information such as emails and news groups.
Patent Literature Document 2 discloses a search device and a search method, which receives search requests used to search users who can reply to users' queries so as to search desired users in response to search requests from a plurality of users operating mobile terminals connected to networks. Specifically, the search device extracts users related to fields matching users' queries based on profile information including users' shared messages and users' specialized fields. The search method calculates adaptations representing degrees of interchanging with search requesters such that adaptations become higher in connection with a larger number of history data and a larger number of first-type emails with reference to history data regarding first-type emails (i.e. emails designating addresses identifying extracted users or search requesters) and second-type emails (i.e. emails designating carbon-copy recipients identifying extracted users or search requesters) included in communication histories of emails from search requesters with respect to each of the extracted users. The search method determines whether each user's current status is any one of “attendance”, “floating”, and “absence” based on the operating status representing each extracted user operating his/her mobile terminal and the current location of each user obtained from schedule information. As to a search request including search conditions requesting immediate reply or demanding direct accessibility, the search method multiplies the adaptability of a user with the current status “attendance” by the highest weight while multiplying the adaptability of a user with the current status “floating” by the second highest weight, thus applying a first weight to the adaptability of each extracted user. As to a search request including a search condition of prioritizing managerial personnel, the search method multiplies the adaptation of a user holding a post of a “manager” according to the profile information (e.g. “manager”, “chief”, or “non-post”) by the highest weight while multiplying the adaptation of a user serving as a “chief” by the second highest weight, thus applying a second weight to the adaptation of each extracted user. As to a search request including a search condition designating a practitioner, the search method multiplies the adaptation of a user holding a post of a “chief”, according to the profile information, by the highest weight while multiplying the adaptation of a user serving as “non-post” by the second highest weight, thus applying a third weight to the adaptation of each extracted user. Additionally, the search method presents users, selected based on adaptations multiplied by weights corresponding to the extracted users, to search requesters. That is, the search method selects users in consideration of users' current statuses added to users' specialized fields; hence, it is possible to search users who can reliably reply to user queries.
Patent Literature Document 3 discloses a human network information display method which can display a human-network map representing the relationship among multiple persons. Specifically, the human network information display method extracts metadata concerning persons from electronic data including information specifying persons, correlates metadata upon creation of person specifying information, and then graphically displays the correlation between persons based on the correlated metadata. The human network information display method can dynamically display persons holding necessary knowledge and other persons having human networks with those persons on screen in real time based on the automatically collected modern data; hence, it is possible to offer effects of easily selecting the optimum locations suitable to gather talented people.
Patent Literature Document 4 discloses a human network configuration creating device which can create a human network configuration among persons applicable to predetermined events. Specifically, the human network configuration creating device retrieves email data so as to generate logs correlated to search words related to events from email data and links among applicable persons. The human network configuration creating device searches logs corresponding to search words and search conditions set to users. Additionally, the human network configuration creating device creates a human network configuration based on applicable persons included in the searched logs and links between those applicable persons. Thus, it is possible to easily create a human network configuration with respect to persons applicable to predetermined events.
Patent Literature Document 5 discloses an access information storage device which can store personal identification information and access information for individuals specified by personal identification information, and an information processing device which can transmit personal identification information to the access information storage device so as to obtain access information for individuals specified by personal identification information. Specifically, the information processing device includes an access history storage unit which can store a plurality of personal identifications having access histories with the access information storage device in connection with common requirements. Additionally, the information processing device receives first personal identifications and common requirements so as to extract second personal identifications, related to first personal identifications, from the access history storage unit while obtaining access information for individuals specified by personal identifications from the access information storage device. The information processing device includes an access history storage unit, a search word input part, a search processing part, and a search result output part. When each user contacts other persons having weak relations with each user with respect to the desired requirements, the information processing device can output human paths, representing a history of each user having contacts with other persons who each person wish to contact with respect to the requirements in the past, thus allowing each user to browse human paths.
Patent Literature Document 6 discloses a search assistant device which can search persons having high relativities with searching subjects by use of emails serving as community information. Specifically, the search assistant device includes message identifying information specifying emails, thread identifying information specifying threads included in emails, an email table storing records concerning senders and receivers, and a keyword table storing thread identifying information in connection with keywords. The search assistant device reads emails from the email storage means, obtains message identifying information concerning other relevant emails from header information of emails, and then determines whether or not message identifying information is registered in the email table. The search assistant device newly generates thread identifying information from the read emails upon determining that message identifying information is not registered in the email table. Upon determining that message identifying information is registered in the email table, the search assistant device obtains thread identifying information from records of the email table specified by message identifying information of other relevant emails. Then, the search assistant device adds message identifying information obtained from the header information of the read emails, senders and receivers, and the newly generated thread identifying information or thread identifying information read from the email table to the email table. Additionally, it writes keywords, resulting from morphological analysis on information retrieved from the read emails, in the keyword table in connection with thread identifying information. Upon receiving search conditions, the search assistant device obtains thread identifying information concerning keywords corresponding to search keywords included in search conditions, from the keyword table. Additionally, it obtains users who are designated as senders or receivers based on records of the email table for each thread identifying information, and the number of keywords concerning users being designated as senders or receivers from the keyword table. Then, the search assistant device outputs a user having a large number of keywords obtained from the keyword table with respect to each thread identifying information. Thus, the search assistant device can present important persons with respect to the desired searching subjects, thus allowing operators to easily grasp links among important persons.
Patent Literature Document 7 discloses a human network candidate presentation device which can present timings of requesting connections with users and human network candidates without needing explicit registration of activity history information. Specifically, the human network candidate presentation device can obtain persons concerned with each of stages of activities included in various projects, an activity stage history including a start time and an end time for each stage, and text communication history information representing a communication history described using messages of concerned persons. Then, it extracts characteristic words from text communication history information concerning the start time and the end time with respect to each person concerned with each of stages of activities in a desired project. Thereafter, the human network candidate presentation device specifies the stage having a characteristic word identical or similar to the extracted characteristic word among the characteristic words extracted from the text communication history information with reference to each stage of activities in a specific project concerned with a specific person.
Patent Literature Document 8 discloses a human network search device which can search a human network between a specific person and any targeted person. Specifically, the human network search device extracts human network-related information, representing the relativity between participants attending meetings, from electronic documents describing a plurality of minutes data recording contents of meetings. Then, the human network search device extracts human-network routes among participants based on human network-related information so as to search a predetermined human-network route, ranging from a specific person attending to the predetermined meeting to any targeted person, among a plurality of human-network routes. Thus, it is possible to search human-network routes directed to target talented people by use of a plurality of minutes data resulting from face-to-face communications.